The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-01-28

I - s%@%EFst@Wt 48H& " WI@4 A'Ntt04 F*<-FM
!, VIII Play n the Economy % rhs
| Future.
The uItcrior effect Of the reasoning
81 Nautilus on the data Of population II
that IN spite 81 wars. pcstilcucc and
famine. the increase viii still continue.
even Il the ratio be- very small. and
that unless some artificial check il en-
olosed. the earth will eventually he
rwarming with many more inhabitants
than her products will support.
Since Nautilus propounded his theory
of population. however. enormous nd
vanccS have been made In orr knowl-
edge Of the natural resources which
( may be- used for the sustaining Of
human life. A number of new sub
stances. or substances not previously
suspected 81 having that quality. have
been added To the list Of foods. Among
these il the seed of the cotton plant.
II will probably surprise a very large
number Of persons 70 learn that this
product Is available as nourishmcnt for
the human species. and much more to
be- Informed 10 how great an extent il
is already employed for that purpose.
\ Nutritious oils and especially lhnsc u
vegetable origin have been extensively
used as food by various nations. The
cultivation Of the olive appears 70 have
been earliest known IN Canaan. and il
was greatly praised BY the Hebrew
writers after their monotonous forty
wears diet Of mama in the wilderness
From Asia Minor the olive tree was
| transpiantcd 10 the mainland IL the Pc
lasgians and the islands If the Ionians,
and Homer does honor 10 ii in the
Odyssey. Gradually the oil expressed
from the fruit became the great staple
Of food for the southern nations 81
Europe and the peoples Of Southwest
crn Asia and Northern Africa. The
Romans used il far more freely at table
4 than the Greeks who adopted its culti-
walton at an earlier date. and one q
their notable adages asserted that there
We're two fluids which were essential to
4 long and pleasant life-winc and oil.
Very few Angio-Saxons realize the
extent 10 which olive oil enters into The
daily diet u the inhabitants II those
countries Of which il has for 50 many
centuries principal product.
/ That cotton seed could come forward
as the chief competitor Of the olive would
very probably have been doubted BY
Nautilus. had such . prediction been
made to him. Yet such l. really the
prospective Importance Of this com
modify. The manufacture u cotton
seed i rapidly increasing and has AZ
ready attained 70 very great proper
tions.
The cotton plant is known to be in
digcnous 10 both Asia and America. II
was cultivated in India i've hundred
years before Christ. in China two hun
dred years before Christ. and was found
BY the Spaniar.ls in Mexico in 1919 Of
the present era. and in Peru in 1882.
In Egypt IL wss also raised in very
ancient times
The iirst decorticated cotton seed
that was known in Europe was EXPORT
ed from Egypt in 1852. From that
time dates the knowledge If lis useful
qualities. aside from The mere propa-
cation Of the cotton plant. Its singu-
lar that not until much later did the
cotton planters in this country begin to
understand it, real value. It, first ,lse
in their hands was rs a fertilizer FIR
land on which cotton was produced II
was found that the seed restored 10 the
~oil in good mart the essential elements
which were taken from il by the crop.
For nearly a century prior 20 that time
fhe seed had been regarded ~ useless.
and. after being separated from the
fiber - the boil. lad either been burned
or thrown into the sea eThe next adj
vance in knowledge on the part Of the
planters was the discovery that the
seed was An excellent food for cattle.
For good many years il waSsmplo,cd
for this purpose. but At length j, was
found to BE- too rich to effect the great
ct good ia that way II impaired the
health IL the stock to which IL was
given A like objection was made 70
il a. a manure. II caused the cotton
plants 10 grow too rank. and did not
tend 70 the production Of a. fire 4 fiber
a. other materials that coald be en-
ploycd for that object. The d'sirabil-
ity u adapting il to the digestion Of
cattle lcd TO the expression Of the oil.
The seed was ~ this operation formed
into cakes. which were used both a.
forage and manure.
Only sixteen wears ago this process, BE-
gan to he generally adopted In the
South. and a. great quantities II oil
were thus produced which was natu-
rally found 20 BE- useful for many pGr-
poses = market for II was desirable. II
did not take long 70 discover that the
qualities u the new product were a
good deal like those II olive oil. and
that i could h. substituted for the lat
ter or sold for like uses. This was the
commencement ~ an enormous trade.
The business II making cottol-sced oil
has within very brief time grown 70
astonishing proportions.
The example Of this industry serves